


Secret Santa 2012

by acricket



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Bathing/Washing, Horror, Humanstuck, Multi, Sickfic, game glitches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2013-01-05
Packaged: 2017-11-22 09:54:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acricket/pseuds/acricket
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>my four gifts from the secret Santa gift exchange on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Maltronic](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Maltronic), [astralartist](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=astralartist).



> The first one is for maltronic, who wanted some eridan/triskter Eridan which was more fun to write then it should have been. More horror than love, but its fun writing bad things. Hope you enjoy and merry christmass!

Eridan was seething, over the failure of the game, and the loss of everything really. Fef, she didn't speak to him any more, but that was okay, he couldn't force her to like him, like he wanted. They should still be together, he felt, like they always were, when they were younger. He missed what they had, and it was his own fault that he messed it up so badly.

He sighed as he moved through rooms and hallways on the meteor he was trapped on. There was nothing to do but waste time, waiting for the inevitable end. He didn't see why they even bothered fighting to stay alive. He didn’t understand how they didn't see their situation for what it was, true hopelessness.

It didn't feel right staying with the others when he felt like they were only putting up with him, even Karkat. Karkat, their leader, who was too busy trying desperately to keep them together and alive. It was hopeless, their species just were not meant to work together like they were. He was the Prince of Hope, he should know all about hope.

His musings led him down into the more unexplored bowels of the meteor. He was hoping to distract himself, for a bit at least. It was always something to do, and it made him think back to his old Flarping days, when he was Dualscar, fearsome pirate who ruled the seas and made the land dwellers shake with fear and stay on their dry land. He wasn't him though, that much was certain. Dualscar would have found a way to salvage this, found a way to win. Well, maybe he could find a way to win yet. Maybe there was something hidden in this place that would help them. Something that would allow them to win. Maybe something that could bring back their world.

And maybe magic was real.

He bit his lip and continued on, trying to gaze into the darkness of the room he was in. It looked like another test tube room. There were rows and rows of tubes stacked on top of each other. Some had dark shapes curled in on themselves, highlighted by different coloured light, but hidden by foggy glass. Most of the tubes were small, they looked like the might fit someone of his size.

He forced himself to go farther into the room. It wasn't very big, and the glow from the tubes gave the room an eerie look. Creating long shadows and unnerving shapes. He shifted his cape around him and continued on down the narrow room. Maybe there were imps in these, low level ones he could fight. Then again, knowing his luck, they would all be high level, despite apparent small stature.

He chose to ignore them. He had seen hundreds of rooms like these scattered everywhere in the meteor, they were a dime a dozen. 

A tapping noise behind him made him turn back when he was about to leave the room. He frowned and turned, eyebrows scrunched down as he tried to find the source of the noise.

"Hello? Kar? Fef?" he called out, turning around.

There was no answer to his call. everyone was still probably in the main computer Lab where Karkat had set up base. He snorted, calling himself stupid then turned away again, back towards the door. He heard the knocking again and whirled around.

"Vvris, if that's you come on out." He could at least fight her then, which would be fun. He missed their play at kismesissitude. She did not come out, and there were more sounds of something tapping, and movement from one of the tubes.

His science wands came to his hands, shining bright white in the room, and he ventured closer to the tube where the thing inside was moving around.

It had uncurled, and seemed to be roughly troll shaped. He couldn't tell the colours, it was so darn fogged. It was still tapping against the glass, like it couldn't see out. He hesitantly raised a fist, then berated himself for even hesitating. He may not be Dualscar, Scourge of the seas, but he was still Eridan Ampora. He knocked twice loudly on the glass.

The thing inside jerked, like it hadn't even expected to get a response, then almost seemed to throw itself closer to the glass casing, frantically rubbing in a circle around where he thought it's head was. He took a step back when it moved closer and just watched as it moved.

What did it want? what even was it? It seemed more intelligent than the imps they had found frozen away. Those things would have just tried breaking out, beating themselves on the glass until they died. It was just floating there, rubbing in a circle. Did it want to see what was outside?

He brought his hand up again, wand still clutched, just in case, and rubbed out a spot in the dense fog coating the glass. What he saw on the other side made him gasp and fall back in shock, tripping over his cape and landing on his ass.

It, it looked like him, but it was all wrong. So terribly wrong. Its skin was a bright shining purple, seeming to glow within it's container. It was grinning, wide and threatening with its needle teeth. He got the feeling that it wasn't trying to be threatening, but the smile was just so off. He had never smiled like that ever in his life.

It was all the wrong colours too. Its hair was a stark white, except where his blood denoting highlight was, which was a disgusting greenish colour bright as its skin. Was that its blood colour? How revolting, but it must be, because it matched its eye colour, even though his own were still black.

Its eyes were bright and shining and they locked on his own when it was able to locate him. They were large with black rings, and, he found that he could not look away from this creature, no matter how much it disgusted him. It had clothes on, from what he could see from his peripherals, clothing identical to his own, but in pastel colours that matched its eyes. He couldn't help the shiver that went through his body, but could not bring himself to push himself away.

It brought up it's hands to the screen again, and began to knock against the glass. It even had copies of his rings, though they looked more like wriggler toys or candy than actual metal. it started to knock faster against the glass, its grin seemed to grow.

He wanted to move away to get out of this room and get away from this thing, but found he couldn't look away from its eyes, which only seemed to get more intense, along with its smile. The knocking became faster and faster, until its hands were little more than blurs against the glass. The liquid inside the tube was sloshing around, making it's hair and cape move rapidly in the small space. 

Cracks began to appear in the glass, little fissures that quickly grew, fracturing and splitting off from one another, and still the thing wouldn't look away from him and would not stop smiling. The glass gave way within seconds, seeming to surprise even the creature inside as it blinked as the first bit of liquid shot out.

The glass blew outwards, towards Eridan, and the water inside surged forwards bringing the creature with it. Without eye contact from whatever it was, he found he could move again and shakily tried to move back, but only succeeded in colliding with the wall of tubes and machinery behind him. He looked behind him in startlement. The bodies inside were still foggy behind him, but some of the shapes looked familiar, like the oddly curving, and arrow-like protrusions where he estimated the heads to be.

There was more copies around, probably of his friends. He gripped his science wand tighter and faced where the creature was. Like hell was he going to face that thing sitting down, but it was already in front of him.

It had made it to his lap without him noticing, leaning over him, hands planted at his sides. It, it didn't even look wet, there was still liquid over by the tube and where the glass was, but the creature itself was not wet. He got a better look at it now, and it's skin was still just as bright, and its face was right in front of his, grin still in place.

There was some kind of crystal like candy on a stick stuck in its DRY hair. It chuckled then, the sound sounding more like static and things going wrong than an actual true laugh. It sent a chill up his spine and finally prompted him to speak.

"G-Get back wwhatevver you...." He started but trailed when the thing grabbed his face and held it straight in front of its own, staring at him with its hypnotizing pale green eyes. He felt his raised arm go slack, falling limp at his side, his science wand rolling away from his numb hand.

It drifted closer its face fins puffing and swaying in the air. It breathed in his scent making happy little sighs. It trailed its nails along his cheeks and nose, seeming to just enjoy their shape. His touch felt strange. It was warmer than he was, much warmer than even Tavros had been, and warmer than Aradia and Karkat were, he suspected. It felt like fire on his skin, but it didn't burn.

It moved so it was kissing him in the next breath, slow and in no hurry, just enjoying itself. It hadn't stopped looking at him, rendering him incapable of moving. Eridan couldn't even shiver against the strange being and it's unrelenting heat. A searing tongue slipped into his mouth. It left warmth along his gums and around his tongue.

It drew back after a moment, letting loose a rumbling purr like crackling static that seemed to come more from its throat than its chest. He gasped when it retreated, feeling tired, his eyelids drooping. He still couldn't break eye contact from it and tried to make a noise, or some words, but it was back within moments, kissing him again.

It felt like it was getting warmer, if that was even possible. It was getting harder and harder to tell, his eyes slowly closing as the thing probed his mouth again with its tongue. It wasn't long before he slipped into unconsciousness, finally breaking eye contact with the creature on his lap.

The creature gently held his head, leading it to the ground so he didn't even chip the horn. It stroked the cheek of the being under it, his facial fins fluttering under its claws. He was pretty, like he dreamt about. It couldn't help the chuckle it let out, less staticky now, and more glubbing, like his would be. 

It looked around the room at its brothers and sisters who still slept. It would have to wake them up, which could take a while. It needed to be done though. How else would they secure and care for their food?

It chuckled as it lent down again, kissing him again, lightly along his cheek, taking in a small amount of energy for another boost, then got to work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for a mystery person. Tumblr ate one of the messages, and I never found out who this was for, just that one of the things they wanted was karkat/terezi
> 
> So, mystery, I hope you enjoy this and that you had a wonderful christmass!

A Prom Date

Karkat shifted in his chair, the plastic seat squeaking a bit, lifting off its metal frame. He hated this chair, so much. It was broken, but not enough for the school to bother replacing and it squeaked every time he moved a millimetre. It was annoying and only added to his growing temper.

Mr. Slick was at the front of the board, looking at a workbook in his hand then back to the board, where he was scratching down answers. The man didn't just write with the chalk, he seemed to stab the board, trying to kill it. He could only use the smallest pieces, all the bigger ones broke.

It was hard to even make out what he was even writing, the teacher had chicken scratch writing rivalling that of any doctor. In Karkat’s notebook, only half of the problems had even been written down, and none of them were answered. He didn't care. Its not like Slick even marked these. He assigned homework, but never collected it. Didn’t even know why he even bothered answering them in class.

Slick wasn’t his main focus, his main focus was the old battered clock that stood above the doorway, or more specifically, time. His pencil continued its irritating tap against his desk.

He wanted to get out, no, needed to get out now. He had to go find terezi, and ask her to the prom, before Dave did.

Thinking about Dave made him more twitchy. He acted all high and mighty, like he was too fucking cool for anyone else, and Terezi just seemed to eat that up. She’d been hanging out with him practically non-stop for the last month. He tried to think of the last time that he had seen her without Dave. His chances for her saying yes seemed pretty slim, but Gamzee told him that Dave had not asked her out yet. There was STILL a chance she would say yes, he just had to ask her first.

He wanted to rip his hair out. He had liked that crazy, smiling psychopath for three years, but hadn’t asked her out in all that time. He kept on trying. Setting up the most romantic scenarios he could think of, but something always fucking happened.

The lights would go out, or explode, like that one time, or someone would just come in, which was what usually happened. Effectively ruining his carefully constructed air of romance. He was the KING of romance.

He would definitely ask her out as romantically as possible; he just had to figure out how, first.

He knew she had no plans for after school today. There was no debate team meet-up, thank god, it would be hard pulling her away for ANYTHING if that was a thing that was happening tonight. John was having a ‘bros night’ with Dave or whatever the hell that even meant, so he wouldn’t be there to take up her time either. All he would have to do is get her alone.

But that would be the problem, she always questioned everything and poked at everything he said. It was infuriating, he wanted to ask her when she had no clue so it would be a surprise. But how would he do it?

He tapped his pencil against the desk some more, glaring off into space as he thought, then looked down at his books, and their half-finished problems. What was he going to say....

The bell jolted him out of his thoughts, and apparently Slick as well, who swore, crushing the chalk against the board, leaving a white smear. Karkat wasted no time in launching himself out of his chair, books clutched in his hands.

He heard slick yell behind him, but he didn’t care, he had to find Terezi. He was going to do it today! There was no backing out of this now!

He made his way towards her locker, which was pretty much on the other side of the school. More people started to file into the halls, but there were advantages to being short, not that he would ever admit that ever.

He wound himself between the other students who seemed to make it their goal to take up all of the hallway. Seriously, who even does that. Some people have to get their move on.

He made another turn and spotted her, at her locker talking away to the small girl who wore cat-ears, Nepita or something, she was a weird chick, sister to the sweaty line-backer Equius. Dave was by her locker as well, leaning on a braced arm over both of the girls. He made some kind of joke, and the girls laughed.

Terezi had her head cocked,and he could just imagine her cackle laugh. She sounded like an evil which. He found it adorable, but she was laughing with Strider.

He was tall and skinny and manly. It made himself self consciously think about his own height and pudgy, unmuscled body. He quickly turned back around. He couldn’t embarrass himself like that. There was no way she would say yes to him. Not with cool douche standing by, and being all cool and strutting his stuff like he always did.

Karkat huffed, leaning against the wall behind him, crossing his arms. He bit his lip, he couldn’t just stay here. Who knows when Dave would leave. His chances were dashed anyways. Dave would have asked her out for sure by now. They were so close.

He felt something smack against his leg and he yelped, smacking his head against the wall behind him in an attempt to move back. He was about to yell at whoever just hit him, but held himself back when he saw Terezi smiling and leaning over him.

“Hey Karkat!” She smiled, showing off most of her teeth. He cursed her height and knew she hit him on purpose. He didn’t even know why she pretended to need that cane, except to have an excuse when she wanted to abuse people with it.

“Hi Terezi.” He replied. “Where's Dave?”

“Cool kid? had something ‘ironic’ he had to do. Hehe.” She said, smiling at him.

Now was your chance. Go on Karkat. Ask her if she wants to hang out. He was not going to do it with her leaning over him like this. He started to move away but then found an arm planted beside his head. It was about eye-level, but close. He’s lucky she hadn’t nailed him when she put it there.

“Hey, Karkles, want to go to the Prom with me?” She asked grinning down at him.

He sputtered. That was not how it was supposed to work. He was the one that was supposed to ask. He was the guy. That was just how it worked.

“That a no?” She asked after a few seconds when he didn’t say anything, frowning a bit.

“No! I mean YES. Yes, its definitely a yes-” Her grin flashed back up.

“Good. C’mon. I was going to go pick out a dress. You can help me.” She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him down the hallway, making him almost drop his books in the process.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear astralartist, hope you had a great christmass!

Gamzee laid down on his bed, sheets in disarray, crumpled around his feet. His pillows, dark and satin bunched up behind his head. There was smoke drifting from his lips, and Tavros was there.

He was leaning over him, his dorky smile nervously sitting on his lips, brown eyes shifting to the side and blushing. He was unsure, even though his arms were planted on either side of Gamzee, stretching his tight shirt. The pokemon sign on it was warped.

Gamzee loved his muscles, developed from playing football and spending hours at the gym. He said as much, laughing up at Tavros, who only blushed more. 

His Mohawk wasn’t spiked up today, a precaution since it was only going to get messed up, and it fell in uneven bunches on either side of his head. It only made him cuter.

Gamzee pulled his head down closer, so they could kiss, one hand tangling up in the short mohawk. Tavros hesitantly brought one of his to Gamzee’s own hair, digging into the curls on his head after a moment. Gamzee was the one who brought his tongue into the action first, licking at Tavro’s lips. He opened them, and he tasted like miracles, and just, Tav. He bet his beard was tickling Tavros’ chin.

He groaned into the kiss, and began to undulate his body, thighs trapped between Tavros’ own, thick and strong. He felt his dick twitch, and groaned again. He must have rubbed up against Tavros, because he was groaning too, into his mouth, low and needy. He broke the kiss as his hips jerked towards Gamzee’s own. 

He could feel that Tavros was hard too. He looked up, smiling, Tavros was blushing more, and even biting his lip.

Gamzee urged Tavros to sit up and take off his shirt, he wanted to see more. Tavros had the nicest body. He did as was asked, sitting more on Gamzee’s hips. Putting much need pressure on his dick. He groaned and held onto Tav’s thighs, digging in his fingers.

The shirt was off in seconds, tossed to the side. Tavros was smiling down at him, but his eyes glanced off to the side. Tavros was always nervous with new things, and the blush seemed to darken under his already dusky skin.

Gamzee’s hands moved from thighs to sides, feeling how thick Tavros was. He didn’t have a defined six-pack, but he could still feel the muscle. He bet Tavros could bench press one of him easy.

Tavros had a coat of hair on his chest, and a line leading into his pants. He let his hands run over his stomach and chest, enjoying the springy feel of his hair. Tav gasped when Gamzee’s fingers ran over a nipple, and his hands stopped exploring and started playing.

Tavros groaned when he really started to rub those nubs, making them hard. He didn’t think Tavros would be so sensitive, but it was a nice surprise, he couldn’t take his eyes off Tav’s face. Watching as he gasped, looking focused.

Tavros’ hands found their way to his shirt, slipping under. He made noise about how it wasn’t fair, with just him having no shirt, while Gamzee still had his on, all snug and tug. Gamzee laughed, and wriggled around a bit under him, letting Tav take off the shirt, bending as far as he could to help him out.

He just lent back and waited for Tav to get his exploration on. He was so much different than him. Nothing but ribs and bones, a string bean, bean pole. He wasn’t ashamed of his body, not ashamed by a mile, but sitting under Tav, he became aware just how scrawny he was, with his ribs showing and very little hair.

Tavros didn’t care, smiling down at him, a bit more confident now, and let his own hands wander, running down his sides. It made him laugh, a loud honking sound. He smacked at his hands, then Tavros let a thumb graze over Gamzee’s own nipple, and it felt okay. It wasn’t an electric thing that he bet Tavros had felt, but it was still nice. He groaned though, to give some sound for Tav, to let him know that what he was doing still felt good. Tavros was smiling above him.

Tav went down for another kiss. He was a really good kisser. Gamzee had always thought he would be, despite what Vriska said about him. It wasn’t slobbery, and not too hard, with a little teeth, just enough to show that they were there. It was perfect, like Tavros.

His hands went back to going up Tavros’ sides, and went digging in his short hair again, grabbing at as much as he could reach. 

Tavros started to go down, kissing his cheek, laughing over his beard and going for his neck, then his collarbones and then his chest. He wasn’t leaving any marks, Tav was a gentleman like that. A classy motherfucker.

He travelled lower, breath tickling on his chest, making him shiver and twitch and his mouth was so warm where it touched. He liked it when Tav used his teeth, just a little. Gamzee groaned, one hand resting on Tavros arm, the other in his hair. 

Tavros stopped when he got to the edge of Gamzee’s pants, like he was unsure of what to do. Gamzee smiled encouragingly up at him, and rested his hands over Tav’s, which were big and warm. Bigger than his own and so meaty. He pulled them away and opened his own pants, then went for Tav’s.

Tav groaned from the sudden release in pressure, and he could see where he was in his tighty whities, there was a wet patch. Gamzee himself didn’t wear any underwear, and his was already peaking out of his waistband.

Tav gently touched Gamzee after a few seconds, with just the tips of his fingers, drawing him out of his pants. Gamzee bit his lip and gasped at the suddenly warm touch. He closed his eyes, it felt so good to have Tav’s hands on him, and when he opened them, their pants and Tav’s underwear were gone. That didn’t even take long.

His legs gripped Tav around his waist when he brought their dicks together, pumping them slowly and hesitantly. It felt so motherfucking good to Gamzee, and he started to mutter incoherently to Tav, calling him wonderful and gorgeous and perfect, and please don’t stop bro. Tav hunched over him a bit, curled around where his hand was pumping, gasping. He looked so motherfucking perfect, it made Gamzee’s mouth go dry.

His brown eyes finally opened and caught Gamzee’s and he asked, motherfucking asked, like the good guy he was, if he could get up inside him. How could Gamzee say no to him?

Some lube found its way into Tav’s hand and he backed off a second, away from Gamzee, to coat his own dick in lube, and brought one slick hand to Gamzee, probing at his entrance, hesitant again, and blushing loudly.

Gamzee was blushing too, wound up and leaking, and he felt wonderful and all fuzzy. Shit was amazing, Tavros was amazing, the best thing ever. He tried to move down, against Tavros, urging him to go, please, start stretching him out-

Tav’s finger slipped in and Gamzee saw stars. His eyes went wide and he gasped, his orgasm taking him by surprise. It’s a bolt of lighting zipping up his spine and seizing his muscles, his legs trying to grip empty air and his feet arching.

He lay gasping for a moment, his own hand resting loosely on his dick. His jizz cooling where it had landed on his stomach and hand. He winced, over stimulated, as he slipped his finger out of his ass, and wiped it on the sheet by his waist, next to his half used bottle of lube, which he left open, and there was now a slightly wet spot on his sheets. He cursed and hastily snapped the lid closed.

His come cooling on him didn’t feel all that great and he brought his hand up to his face to clean it off, one digit at a time. He thinks Tav would laugh at his coming so soon, at least, he hopes the motherfucker would take it a compliment at how hot he was, and not that Gamzee just had a hair trigger. 

His spunk tasted the same as it always did, and he wonders if Tavros’ would taste better, he bet it would, because it would be Tav’s. He wished that he was really here, that Tavros would be going out with him, but he hadn’t even tried asking him out yet. It was never the right moment, and he wanted it to be right when he finally asked Tav out. He deserved perfect.

Grabbing a tissue, Gamzee cleaned off the rest of the mess on his chest, which was flakey and cool now. He’d shower in the morning, before he went to school. Maybe he’ll ask Tav tomorrow, if they can get a bite to eat. Wait, no, he has football practice tomorrow.

He can at least watch his practice, watch the pants hug his nice butt and watch it work. He sighed and rolled over, falling asleep easily half covered by the blanket, lube forgotten.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is for brelooom. I had a lot of fun writing this. Hope you enjoy this and had a wonderful holiday!

Nepeta looked down at Equius and fretted, her tail swishing behind her as she crouched over where her moirail lay.

He had gotten sick about a week ago, she thinks. It was when he started acting weird, he’d been seemingly disoriented, and he stopped using his quirk. It had concerned her, and then, he didn’t come online for two whole days! She had gotten worried and ran over, not trusting vrwhiskers to check on her moirail, she would probably just feed him to her lusus.

When she got to her moirail’s, his hive was locked, she had to climb into his window when Aurthour did not answer. He also wasn’t even there! She had looked all through his entire hive. It worried her even more, then she went to Equius’ workroom, where he’d made his robots and her wonderfur tail, and he was collapsed on the floor, breathing hard.

It looked like he had kept trying to build things, even while ill, and was covered in grease and sweat.

She had never seen him look so weak. It made her bloodpusher freeze mid-beat like the hopbeasts she hunted. His cheeks were so thin, and he was dirty, sweating more than he usually did and breathing heavily, but not in that creepy way he did around Aradia.

She moved forwards towards her moirail cautiously, trying her best to be slow and not run to him. Equius was strong, and could hurt her if surprised, like when they first met, and you don’t just touch someone when they are sick.

“Equius?” She called out to him, and waited until he made a noise before she touched him.

He raised his head, looking blearily at her. His glasses were off and his eyes were tinted with blue, blood shot, and the lines underneath them were darker. It took him a second to give her a response.

“.. Nepeta?” He frowned at her, thin eyebrows scrunching together as he tried to focus, voice slow.

“Shoosh, Equius.” She put her hand on his arm. Even before she touched him she could feel how hot he was, hissing slightly. He was a bit cooler than she was, but still above his normal temperature. She snatched her hand back. 

“You’re sick.” She stated, moving to move his hair out of his eyes. “If you’re this sick, you should be in your recoupracoon. Where’s Authour.?”

Equius took a moment to answer her, “Aurthour, is… I do not know.” His head fell back onto the cool floor before continuing. “I was… I do not remember.” His voice trailed off at he end. She poked him and moved his head, but he seemed to have fallen asleep.

She fretted over him. She needed to get him in his recoupracoon, but he couldn’t sleep in one as dirty as he was, it would just foul up the sopor, making it ineffective. Author wasn’t here, and Equius didn’t remember where he had gone. She huffed.

Fist things first, he needed to get cleaned up. Her tail twitched behind her as she tried to figure out how to get her furrend up. He was too big to pick up, being twice her size, but she could drag him.

He was at least by the doorway, with not too much stuff in the way, and his ablutions block was on the same floor as his workblock. She reach down and grabbed one of her moirail’s arms. This would be just like dragging one of her bigger kills back home. Except the mighty huntress would just be cleaning her prey rather than eating it afterwards. Even though her lusus was always the one to drag the really big ones back.

She pulled back, heaving hard, the claws on her shoes clicking against the floor. He was heavy, and it made her arms ache but she moved him little by little towards the door. She was huffing halfway down the hallway, arms shaking.

She was glad when she made it to the ablutions block, Equius was HEAVY. She dropped his arm and turned to look over his tub, feeling a bit uneasy. She hated baths, only doing so when her moirail or her lusus made her, but Equius was sick and he couldn’t do it himself.

Her tail flicked as she turned on the water. It made a dull thud as it hit the bottom of the metal tub. She shifted as she looked into the water as it filled. There were dents in it from Equius’ hands, bending the outside of the tub.

She turned back to her moirail and flipped him over, grunting with the effort, his limbs flopping where they landed like dead meat. She wasted no time in stripping him of his clothes. There was no way one could bathe with their clothes on! She had learned her lesson last time she tried and tracked water all over her hive.

The shirt was a lost cause and she just simply cut it off with her claws. The shorts and his under leggings were tuffur, but she got them off too. She tossed them to the side and grabbed Equius by his arm, slinging it over her shoulder and pulling him onto her back.

“Okay Equius. Time to get in the tub. The fine hoofbeast needs to get clean so he can get betfur.” Equius made a noise, and he tried to help to get himself up, his movements uncoordinated. His arm fumbled for the lip of the tub, giving it another dent, and she pushed, hauling him up and into the tub.

The water wasn’t deep, but it still went everywhere when he landed. He hit his horns on the side and he hissed, flailing a bit. She reached in, trying her best to right him, so he was resting against the back of the tub. He was breathing hard, but opened his eyes to look at her, slowing relaxing in the tub

“…Thank you, Nepeta.”

She smiled at him and stepped back to strip herself, throwing her clothes haphazardly as she did his and slipped into the tub. Equius didn’t protest when she moved his legs and settled between them. Equius had a huge tub so it was an easy fit.

She leaned over to reach for the stuff he put in his hair, and insisted on putting in hers when he gave her a bath. She gave it an unconscious sniff and held it as far away from her as possible, her ears screwing back. It hadn’t changed and smelled just as terrible and icky as it ever had. 

She tried not to breathe through her nose and opened the dark metallic container and dribbled some onto her hands. It was so gross and oily. She reached forwards and shoved her hands into his hair, scrubbing slightly as he usually did, once he managed to keep a hold of her. She took care to mind his horns, especially his broken one. The injury was old, but she knew it still pained her furrend.

Bubbles curled around her hands as she worked the foul smelling stuff in. Equius gave a sigh of relief as she massaged his scalp. She cupped her hands together and let the water pool into her cupped palms, then poured it over Equius’ head and let the water clean away the suds. She repeated the action a few more times, until there were no more soap bubbles coming off.

With that done, she spent a moment fixing his hair. Equius was always so concerned about his hair, and he hated having it all messed up. She was surprised that he hadn’t put it up in a ponytail when she had found him.

Equius looked much better now, but he was still dirty. She reached over to where the hair stuff was and grabbed a hard, crusty bar. She looked for a cloth, but couldn’t find one. Equius’ ruined shirt was close to the bottom of the tub and she grabbed that. It was a bit dirty, but it was close enough to clean. It promptly got dunked into the water along with the soap.

It smelt better than the hair liquid and she much prefured it. It smelt like the flowers in the one meadow that she liked to hunt hopbeasts in. She rubbed the bar against the cloth until it had been thoroughly soaked with the soap.

She turned back to her moirail, and began to meticulously clean him as his head lolled against the edge of the tub. She was gentle and started on his left arm and slowly moved to his right, scrubbing slightly harder where the oil or dirt or whatever her moirail had gotten on him stuck a bit, she even got under his claws where something particularly gummy got stuck.

During this, Equius hardly moved, or even showed that he was aware of her. She looked to his face and it was the same expression. Slightly strained and weary, brows pressed together and teeth grit, though that was generally normal for him, but his mouth was stuck in a pained, rather than disapproving, frown.

She finished with his arms and hands and then started on his chest, wiping away the grime. He was thick and hard muscled, like she was, though much bigger. The muscles on his thorax twitched as she scrubbed. She brought the rag back up to re-soap it then lowered it back down. Taking her time to clean as much of him as she could, moving his body as she needed.

His lower body was as clean as it was going to be and all that was left was his back. She set her make-do rag on the side of the tub and then started to pull Equius forwards to lean on her so she could clean his back.

Equius made a startled noise and grabbed the side of the tub to stop himself from falling forwards. His arms shook as he concentrated on holding himself up, making the first acknowledgment of his surroundings since she started.

She just slowly drew him forwards. “The mighty huntress must get her majestic hoofbeast furrend clean. She needs her friend to relax. The hoofbeast is in good hands and will need to have his magnificent flank washed.” She murmured into his ear as she assumingly ran her hands down his arms.

It seemed to calm him and he let himself relax, letting her pull him forward. She had to shift until she was sitting on her knees so she could rest her chin on his shoulder. Her tail flared out behind her to help steady herself. She continued to make reassuring sounds and shooshes to keep him calm as she reached for the cloth blindly.

She rewetted it and started to clean his back, delicately moving his hair away from his neck so she could clean there as well. She gave up partway down his back when her arms couldn’t reach. She didn’t want to stay in the water anymore and quickly rinsed him of any remaining soap.

When the last suds washed down, she set him back, gently moving his head so it didn’t smack against the side this time. Equius’ eyes were closed and he seemed have passed out again. 

She ignored her own hygiene and stood up from the tub (the water was a distinctly darker shade now that Equius was clean) and stepped out. Her tail whipped around behind her as she shook the water off once she had both feet planted on the ground. She shivered as she became aware of just how cold it was in his hive, then turned back to her sleeping moirail.

She managed to fish out the plug and waited for the water to drain completely before she went about trying to haul Equius out. He was splayed at the bottom of it, head rolled off to the side, eyes still closed.

She metaphorically shoved her sleeves up and grabbed him from behind, hooking her arms under his armpits and throwing herself backwards. Feet scrabbling on the slippery tile, she pulled him along with her, dripping extra water over the edge.

 

She nearly tripped when his butt made its way over the lip of the tub and his body fell, legs smacking on the edge, bringing out a pained hiss from Equius. It gave her a second to move her own legs out of the way before he fell, landing with a wet smack on the ground.

She looked over his shoulder to ask him if he was alright, but he hadn’t even woken up, only groaning some more. It wasn’t anything Sopor couldn’t heal in a day anyways, just some bruising.

She briefly thought about drying him, but decided against it, opting to just get him in his sopor as soon as possible and let the it work. She nearly slipped as she re-gripped on his arms and pulled. She caught herself and shifted, heaving again and thankfully he was easily dragged.

She pulled him out of the room, ignoring his clothing. There would be no point because she would just be taking it off anyways, and Authour spent most of his time cleaning anyway, so the floor was guaranteed to be clean.

A water trail followed as she dragged him down the hallway, towards the elevator which would lead to the upper section of his hive where his respite block was. 

It was cramped in there, even though the box was large enough to fit Aurthour comfortably. She managed to set Equius half sitting at the back as she eyed the large worn buttons with pictures on them, opting to hit the top one with a recoupracoon painted crudely on the overly large piece of metal. It lit up and the lift gave a lurch as it started to move upwards. 

When the doors opened she grabbed Equius by the arms and started to drag him down the hallway again. Her arms were shaking by this time and she was quite relieved when she made it to his respite block.

She pulled him over to his recoupracoon and dropped his arms taking a second to catch her breath and also figure out how she was going to get him in. It was sitting on its side with the opening at the top, so it wouldn’t be too hard. Besides she was an intelligent huntress who could outsmart any prey. She could figure this out. She made one circle around the large ‘coon then decided just using leverage to get him up.

She went back around to his other side and propped him up against the side of it and laid his arms along the top. She the jumped up on the opposite side, grabbing his arms and after planting her feet solidly, throw her self backwards, dragging him up and into the large opening in the top of the coon.

It was easier than getting him in the tube, and the second his chest was over the ridge he easily slipped in with a gross, wet sound. She shoved her head in the opening and made sure his head was sitting with his mouth facing the top and out of the sopor. The rest of his body was completely submerged. She smiled happily as she slipped her head out, satisfied that her moirail was good and settled and went back to the door to help clean up the mess she had left. Equius would be pawfully upset if she just left it.

It didn’t take long to clean the ablutions chamber and put her clothes back on. She hadn’t known what to do with Equius’ clothes, so she had just left them in a pile at a corner of the room. 

She peeked into the recoupracoon when she returned. His nose was still above the slime and he was still breathing. She smiled at him, then looked around the room. She didn’t know how long Equius would be sick, and who knew how long author would be gone, or where the faithful lusus even was. She bit her lip.

She couldn’t leave her moirail alone, not with how he hardly even reacted to what was happening. He was more defenceless than a grub right now. She would just have to stay here and make sure he was alright.

With a nod to herself she sat by to stand guard over Equius, bracing herself to defend him if need be.

\--

Aurthour gingerly opened the door to his strong charge’s respite block and nearly dropped the box containing the medicine he had fetched for him. If he had not recognised the troll sleeping at the foot of his charge’s recoupracoon, he would have most certainly trampled her to death. 

It was only the small troll Nepeta. A generally harmless sort who was good to his charge and good for him. It made him happy that someone trusted had come looking for his charge. If he had been able to use the noisy box his charge used to talk to others he would have most certainly asked his charge’s moirail to come over and look after him while he was gone, instead of leaving him alone as sick as he was.

He gently padded forwards, she was sleeping and didn’t even stir, her weapons out and resting on her hands in case she needed them. It was touching.

The floor was no place for her to be sleeping however. There was a spare respite block purposefully for her to sleep in when she spent the night here. He would have to make sure she got there, but after he mixed this medicine for his charge…


End file.
